Curious Communication

We've been here so long that we understand the local expressions without even a second thought. But I decided that I should try to start listing some of them so that I can remember them with a smile when we are transferred out of Nigeria. So, here are a few that I can think of now. I'll try to jot down others as I hear them -- if I even notice them.

No one says "Hello!" or "Hi!" Greetings are all related to the time of day --- "Good morning!" "Good afternoon!" "Good evening!"

Another common greeting -- "How far?" (pronounced /fah/) This is equivalent to our "How are you?" No one expects a literal answer!

Also "How now?" Same as above but not as commonly used

Other greetings relate to people other than you. No one asks "How are you?" It's always "How's Master?" "How's your family?" to which you answer "fine"

"Sorry-o!" Not really an apology, but a response when you stub your toe or sneeze or some such thing! This is about as close to an apology as most people get!

"Tomorrow, tomorrow" Means in two days. Same holds true for "yesterday, yesterday" or "Saturday, Saturday"

"Yesterday Saturday" means two Saturdays ago.

Repeated words tell you that it's very true --- "last, last time" as in "I'm doing this for the very last time!" or "best, best" as in "He's the best there is!"

"No matter how!" (pronounced /mattuh/) This is a favorite of our driver, Jide. He uses it to express agreement to something I say when we're discussing politics, human nature, or other philosophical theories-- similar to "totally true!"

Other ways to express agreement:
--"Thank you!" (said with a tone meaning "a-ha!") I suppose it means "thank you for saying what I was thinking!"

--"Honestly!" (said with three very distinct and equally emphasized syllables!)

--"I'm telling you!" (also pronounced very clearly and distinctly!)

"I'm coming" Could mean, "yikes! I forgot!" Could also mean "I'll try to leave soon." On only rare occasions does it mean "I've left and am on my way!"

"Good pry" as in "good price" It means "Because you are such a great person, I'm going to give you a very special deal on this!" Literally, it means "Because of the color of your skin, I'm going to assume that you know nothing about pricing and I'm going to rip you off!"

"pick you" means I will pick you up in the car.

"off the light" (or "on the light") means turn the light off/on (This is actually a more accurate way to say it because there are rarely knobs to turn but rather on/off switches!)

"get sacked" means to get fired. To say "he was fired" would mean that he was burned.

"waterproof" (I blogged about this 3+ years ago, I think.) The term for a plastic bag. If it's raining and a woman wants to protect her hairdo she'll tie a waterproof on her head. I think this actually originates from the Brits!

"M tinkun!" Translated literally is "I'm thinking!" and means "I'll try to think of some more later!"